COLUMBIA, S.C. (September 19, 2008) - Facing one of the top offensive teams in the nation, the ETSU women's soccer team dropped its fourth consecutive match 4-0 Friday, at No. 20 South Carolina. ETSU falls to 2-4 on the season, as the Gamecocks improve to 6-0-2.

"I think this three-game road trip was a building block for our team," said head coach Heather Henson. "Each trip we took was against a quality opponent. Hopefully, our girls learned some things that will help us as we head deeper into the season."

The unbeaten Gamecocks jumped on the Bucs early, as senior midfielder Danila Monteiro took a direct pass from sophomore Brook Jacobs, in the eighth minute, beating freshman keeper Megan Masch (Virginia Beach, Va), for the matches first goal.

However Carolina wasn't done offensively, as junior defender Lindsay Small took a crossing pass from freshman forward Kayla Grimsley and headed home the matches second goal, five minutes later.

After junior forward Jordan Monty (Mesquite, Texas) fired a shot that was saved by South Carolina keeper Mollie Patton, the Gamecocks quickly got the ball to their offensive third of the field, as Grimsley fired home her fourth goal of the season, off a pass by junior defender Kim Miller.

The Gamecocks would add one more insurance goal right before the half ended, as junior defender Blakely Mattern took advantage of a South Caroline corner kick by defender Brittany Rhoades, heading in the fourth and final goal of the match.

"South Carolina's speed was the difference in tonight's match, "said Henson. "They have good depth and outstanding players and I think our defenders had a difficult time adjusting to their pace early in the first half. Carolina's front three offensive players do a great job knowing were the midfielders are going to pass the ball inside the zone. We got out of position on defense and we have to learn you can't do that against a well coached team like them."

ETSU was outshot 19-7 by the Gamecocks, as South Carolina held a 3-0 advantage in corner kicks.

"Now that our nonconference schedule is behind us, we have to focus on league play," said Henson. "When you play in a conference like ours, every weekend is a tough challenge. I believe these games will prepare us in the future. Hopefully this is going to help us when we get in situation like we faced tonight."

ETSU returns to action as they open Atlantic Sun Conference play with a 7:00 p.m., match on September 19th at Jacksonville.